A one-dimensional electrostatic sheet model of a coaxial geometry Virtual Cathode Oscillator (VCO) is presented. The cathode is centrally located and connects to a peripherally located plate electrode to form a resonant cavity, and is thus considered to be a novel design. Charge is modelled as concentric sheets about the cathode whose absolute position and velocity are determined as a function of time by solving the relativistic equations of motion. The model predicts the formation of a virtual cathode between the grid and plate electrodes for the case of a space-charge limited current. Setting the electron reflexing frequency (as a function of the grid potential) comparable with the cavity resonant frequency is predicted to improve the efficiency of microwave emission.
Reference:
Turner, GR. 2014. A one-dimensional model illustrating virtual-cathode formation in a novel coaxial virtual-cathode oscillator. Physics of Plasmas, Vol 21(9), pp 93-104
Turner, G. (2014). A one-dimensional model illustrating virtual-cathode formation in a novel coaxial virtual-cathode oscillator. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8693
Turner, GR "A one-dimensional model illustrating virtual-cathode formation in a novel coaxial virtual-cathode oscillator." (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8693
Turner G. A one-dimensional model illustrating virtual-cathode formation in a novel coaxial virtual-cathode oscillator. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8693.